The experience/inexperience cycle: who's stuck in it?

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This is where I'm at right now. I'm a semester away from graduating with a degree in the humanities and I've never had a job before. My chances of getting hired in the retail, sales, fast food or hospitality industries are slim to none since the laws of my country insist upon me being paid more than a fifteen year old (minimum working age) and it makes good business sense to spend as little money on wages as possible.

Since i'm still studying and can't devote all of my time to working, I definitely have doubts and concerns about my ability to get a more "professional" job that one might expect a university graduate to get. I think that my appearance and tendency to be fairly quiet, independent and a bit socially awkward will count against me as well as my previous lack of any experience.

I do feel very bitter and angry about it at times since I do feel like I have skills and abilities that would be valuable to an employer and there's only so much rejection you can take before it starts feeling personal and like nobody is willing to take a chance on you. I just try to find a healthy outlet for my feelings and to remember that economies tend to go through alternating cycles of prosperity and stagnation and that I am far from being alone in this seemingly never ending job search. It's definitely a difficult thing to deal with and I sympathize with anyone else going through it.

This is the same for everyone (with AS or not) that has 1. A bachelor degree or higher 2. Has been out of work for long than say 6 months. While you may not want to do this - I suggest you take your high degrees OFF Of your resume. Yes. I'm serious. I was putting my MBA on each and every single resume I send out. I was looking for all kinds of jobs. I wasn't looking for finance jobs at all. Mostly administrative Assistant positions. I took my MBA off of my resume and I started to get job interviews like crazy! I was getting about 1 job interview each and every week for about 5 months. Problem is, once the employers saw that I had not been working (full time that is) since 2007 - they wondered what was wrong.

I was volunteering like coo- coo crazy from 2009 to 2014. I did put the volunteering on my resume since I wanted to show the employer that I wasn't sitting on my butt eating bon bons all day long. But I noticed that too much volunteering started to actually hurt me. One employer actually told me "So the ONLY thing you have been doing is volunteering for this place for 9 months?" It wasn't like I was there 40 hours a week. I told the lady "I've been also looking for full-time work and I have yet to find paid employment so I keep on volunteering to keep my organizational skills sharp". She looked at me like I was from Mars. She didn't see the value in volunteerism. After that I decided to never go back to that employer since I don't want to work for an employer that does not value volunteerism. (And many employers do have partners where they encourage their employees to volunteer).

I've never heard of anyone being to inexperienced to find a volunteer position. That is usually what they want. Someone that know very little so they can train them to do a volunteer job. Of course you are going to have less responsibility on a volunteer job since you are not paid full-time. If you know too much they will say "We need to pay him/her $50K a year for what he knows instead of having this person volunteer for us!"

If you need a job fast and can't wait 2 years or 1 year to get a job in the "field" you desire (like I did(, I'd look for work outside of the field you desire just so you can keep your people skills, organizational skills sharp, and show that you are trying. Employers do not like see to big gaps in your resume.

Try to use key words in your resume. The more key words the better. And use an executive summary in your resume. Don't use an objective. Objectives are done away with since the early 2000s. Employers KNOW that you desire a career using your degree, using the skills set that you have and that you desire a career with increasingly responsibility that leads to management.

Lastly - you got to network with other people that are working full-time. If you know someone that is working - try to get an introduction to the hiring manager at that person's job. I mean an introduction face to face. Many times a person that is unemployed (and the longer a person is unemployed the worse it gets) - this person doesn't know anyone that is employed or doesn't know anyone employed that is close to where they live. I don't go to church often so I don't really network. I'm just not that big on churchy stuff, but I'm assuming if I was a churchy kind of person - I may have a greater opportunity to network with other face to face. (Of course, the last church I went to, most of the people there were 70 and over and they don't work and don't know anyone in the area that is working). Meet with someone close to where you live. Having a friend in New York that is employed isn't really going to help your case if you are in Nevada. You need to be able to network face to face with others that live within 25 miles from you. You don't want to have to travel 80 miles to network with someone.

Networking online at LinkedIn is good if you have a friend that is working and if that friend knows the hiring manager - then your friend might be able to introduce you to the hiring team. It depends on the level of your friend and how close he is to the management.

If you want to get into IT, you can read magazines on IT and how the IT world is changing. Often times magazines have articles about business and the changes that businesses are making. Keep track of the changes that way when you apply to that job/employer you can mention in the cover letter "I remember reading an article in ABC magazine that your processes for XYZ changed in 2012 and that management wanted to find better ways to save money with this new process. I read in 2014 that production costs were down 30% due to the recent changes . . ." saying stuff like this get's the attention of the hiring manager or HR - since you are focusing on THEIR industry and on THEIR products (or services). They want to know why they should hire you and talking about what interests them - is how to get the job.

Sometimes you can get the magazines for free. It depends. I went to TradePub dot com when I was earning my MBA so I could write perfect reports on businesses - since my degree was - on business. I got Human Resource Management for free for about 3 years. If you are looking for work and want to get "in" the business without working for them then you will likely need to spend about 10 hours a week reading about the employer(s) you desire to work for. Identify what employer you'd like to work for that way you can narrow your search down or else you'd be too tired to read every single thing. Start with 5 employers that you really want to work for.

Looking for work in the 2010 is not the same as it was in the late 1990s. I used to be able to fax my resume out to 100 employers in one week and I'd get 10 phone calls within two days. It all changed around 2008 or so when I noticed pretty much everything was "apply online". But applying online only usually will not get you the job since there are 100 other people exactly like you that have the exact same degree and experience and they want to know "What set's you apart from the other 99 people?"

I've heard the economy is coming back. I have heard that at least 5 times in 2014. I've seem those "Made in America" special news reports as well. Although many of those jobs are not anywhere I live, I do believe the economy is coming back slowly. Keep looking for work. I apply to 20 - 30 jobs a week and so far I got two phone calls. I use Indeed dot com. I don't really use any other place. But I also try to network with others as much as I can. I was told from one employer to go to one of their partners. I couldn't believe this employer called me into interview with them and looked at my resume for all of 5 seconds and saw that I had not working in real estate since 2004 and told me to go to "so and so" (their partner). It wasn't in the line of work I wanted to work in, but I went anyway and when I went it was a blessing to me. No clue if this other place is going to call me but it got me an additional informal interview.

Don't give the person you are interviewing with a reason to fear you. If the person you are interviewing with has a degree lower than yours they may be thinking "This person has a Masters degree. If this person is hired, they will take my job and then I'll be out of work". I've noticed to keep my mouth shut about my MBA on my resume and for now, it seems to work. I don't want to scare anyone.

Hope this helps.

yep, I know that feeling. I was very angry in and around 2011 since I was out of work for several years and I was applying to jobs like crazy (about 400 a year or more) and I hardly got any interviews. My anger grew and grew and grew. Others started to notice my anger. Something happened in 2012 where I was told from a friend she noticed I was so angry. What I noticed was the more angry I got, the more I kept people away from me. But I totally get it that you can only take so much rejection after rejection. Now I just bless them and I mean it. I don't say a prayer for them, I just bow. I bow in respect knowing that someone else was picked to fill that position and I affirm that there is a job around the corner for me - a job that pays more - a job that is closer to home and a job that has better working hrs and a great team of people. I've also noticed that the more positive vibes I give out - the more I get in return.

I was told from someone that was in a very high IT managerial position that most companies hire the most employee in the first quarter of the year. Now I'm not sure if this is true or not since many of the jobs I've applied for are in local city or county government (and many times they do a LOT of hiring right after the fiscal years starts in August each year), but perhaps it is true that many companies hire in the 1st quarter of the year. Plus we have high school students graduating in May/June and I'm sure many of those are going to be hitting the pavement like crazy come June/July. Perhaps getting an annual report of the company will help? That way you may know where the money is flowing in the company?

Actual ad from an op shop where I live: Volunteers needed. Retail experience desirable.

I had this as well when I was 18. I hated this. I often said "don't people know that I'm 18 fresh out of high school?" I found a job as a security guard and then went to temporary agencies when they used to take people with no work experience. Now temp agencies don't want you unless you worked in the last 6 months.

Did you happen to get a letter of recommendation from ANY of the supervisors above?
With all of the internships you've done - man you've done a LOT - I would think that you have at least
ONE good letter of recommendation. If you don't have one - you need to go back to those companies and talk to the person you worked for and ask them for a letter of reference.

Also: If you haven't done this yet - go to LinkedIn and create a profile and
detail every single job and internship you've had in IT or anything having to do with IT.
This will make others in IT see you and your set of skills and they will see where you live.
Make sure you have a good picture of yourself as well.

I am actually just tempted to join the marines and get retrained in construction or something. f**k being rejected... even for non skilled jobs when I too have a degree!

Employers don't give out letters of recommendations, they just give good references when called.
I've never had a company ask for a letter of recommendation, just references of sorts.

I have a very detailed LinkedIn profile and my own website (which I am in the process of updating).
Despite my projects/course work, internships, and software I've learned. it's still not enough (yes I have been told this in nearly every interview).

The problem is:
1) The projects/course work is not considered "industry" experienced since it was done at University not at a job
2) Each company has their own software and/or uses a different software. Therefore it is impossible to learn all the software in the world and especially proprietary software a company may use.
3)Employers look at the fact you have no internships since Summer of 2011, as something being wrong with you.
Well it's not my fault there were very few internships available requiring years of work experience in order to be hired.
Yeah I wasn't qualified for anymore internships!
4) Companies don't want train new hires, so you are expected to know what technologies companies use when hired in, without time to learn it. This is called "hitting the ground running!"

If this was the 90s or early 2000s, I would a desired candidate for most industry jobs.
The great recession that started in 2008, changed everything for the worst.

This is why I've been rejected every time.

You sound very similar to me. My major is digital media and web technologies with a minor in graphic design. I've been putting my efforts into building a fantastic portfolio and looking for internships or volunteer positions before I graduate. I'm in my senior year, so something needs to give soon. I've had 4 interviews this week.

I once had the opportunity to overhear interviewers talk about the other candidates before I went in to interview. It was a Drupal CMS content developer internship for NIH. Even at the internship level, they had guys who had been using Drupal for 4-7 years! It's a bit intimidating to go into an interview to an internship and find out the competition should by all rights be working a "real job". It didn't leave me very excited for my future prospects.

MY ADVICE:
Geeksquad doesn't require any A+ certifications or Microsoft certifications. It's not exactly what you want, but it will give you steady work history in the IT field.

1. Join a meetup group for small business or startups. 2. Go to the meet-ups 3. Give them your business card and try to network. I usually only go to the ones that have a presenter speaking because it's too much for me to handle if it's just socializing.

I failed to get hired at Best Buy...

I've done practically everything career people have told me and nothing has worked yet...

Are there any work share type places in your area? Basically it's a firm that does all the advertising and drumming up of sales for freelancers in the area. They are usually looking for digital marketers or freelancers of that sort.

None that I know.

Like i've said before, a 1/3rd of fellow classmates were unemployed and another 1/3rd were underemployed.

It might be worth looking into. After 2 years of dealing with what you are going through, I found a company that was willing to take me on this week. Since it's more a hub of freelancers, they are more willing to take a chance on you. There's less of a commitment to keeping you if you bomb a project. I've found no corporate type companies willing to make that kind of a risk.

I've been talking with my professors, the career service folk, and other people.
So far there is nothing of this sort.

No one has any real leads on jobs of any sort.